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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Ethics Lecture 11: Envy Destroys One’s Health We must understand what creates envy and refrain from it. This sickness is worse than cancer for one's spirit. From the beginning, one must control himself so that he does not become afflicted with this disease that can destroy one's family. Envy starts from becoming angry at the wrong times or becoming excessively angry. Examples of these have been mentioned earlier.

For example, suppose there are two workmates. One of them gets a promotion and the other one does not. The one who did not get promoted gets angry at the fact that his workmate got promoted but he did not. This anger will result in envy. His envy will grow and he will wish that his former workmate gets demoted. This form of envy is harmful for one's body and soul.

The Commander of the faithful (a) said in the Nahj al-Balāghah : “It is strange that an envious person does not pay attention to his health.”[^1] It is true that envy destroys one's physical health. He (a) also said: “Health comes from a lack of envy.”[^2] A man's spirit has many duties including taking care of his body and protecting his abilities. When one becomes envious his spirit only thinks about what he is envious about.

His spirit becomes upset because it feels that it has less than what he is envious about. This even has an effect on one's appetite. Envy Does Not Allow Faith To Remain In One’s Heart Envy also destroys one's soul. The following tradition has been narrated from Usūl al-Kāfī and other books: the Messenger of Allah (S) said: “Envy consumes one’s faith just like fire consumes firewood.” Have you seen what fire does to firewood? He (S) said that envy does the same thing to one's faith.

One will die without faith if envy grows inside of him, because envy does not allow faith to remain in his heart. In another tradition, the Messenger of Allah (S) said to his companions: “Beware, a sickness that was in previous nations has been found amongst you. Know that this is a terminal disease; it is a disease that destroys your religion.”[^3] This was a warning sign that the Prophet gave to his companions at the end of his life.

Envy is what took the followers of the previous prophets off the path of religion and we saw what envy did to the Muslims after the Prophet (S) passed away. Envy was the reason for the death of thousands of people in the battles of Jamal and Siffīn .